thats why i liked the fact that sony announced the PS4 early, just to let the cat out the bag. Everyone knew both consoles where due out this year. why hide it, and keep these companies under NDA, when they are working on next-gen games?

On top of what Mustang300C2012 and dcbronco said, it's a key business decision when, where and how to announce your product. Especially something as big as the next generation Xbox that you invest billions of dollars into.

isnt what is being kept secret. Its the details of how the system is comprised that is being kept under wraps.

Ms will do their reveal when its convenient for them. Perhaps their reveal is more than what sony did. Maybe theirs will actually show the system and give price and details about how it works with live or if a new live will be released to coincide.

simply saying "we are working on a new system" and then not showing anything isnt their style. They generally are more prepared for such things because its better to address the questions people will have at the same time.

There are plenty of good reasons to hide it. For instance, you don't want to negatively impact the sales of current generation consoles before your next generation system is ready, and if you announce too early, you won't have enough content to show (those demos aren't made overnight, and the developers have to take time away from developing the games in order to make the demos ready to show). Not to mention the secrecy aspect of it, so your competition doesn't steal your ideas.

"The deciding factor in which of the 2 is purchased will come down to what games you prefer."

That is only partially true anymore. Consoles has migrated beyond just gaming, just like (smart) phones have migrated far past just to make calls. Consoles aren't just simply dumb gaming boxes anymore.

The differentiation and competition will encompass platform, features, services, convenience, interface, games and so on.

It's not just games, but also features: The PS3 had a bluray which was a distinctive feature, The PS4 will have game streaming and we don't know if and what MS will offer to counter that. Games might look identical (probably not even that), but the question is will they play identical.

He's right. No publisher thus far has "confirmed" such a thing. In fact, most just kept pretending on wasn't even being worked on. Nothing in business is done on accident. They very much gave publishers permission to start stating 720 exist.

I tend to think Munky is right. Not only do we get Ubisoft aknowledging its existence and confirming games but we also get a new "leak" in the last couple of days that in a nut shell counters all the negative rumors that were swirling around the Twitter debacle.

I think MS quietly loosened things up to stop the PR Nightmare spin that was happening. And this way they still can have their "big reveal" event without appearing to have caved to pressure.

Well I've thought all along that ms were deliberately leaking stuff just so they could gauge reaction to it. They get to see if people were pissed but still willing to swallow it, or pissed but ready to mutiny, then base their strategy on that. Im thinking maybe the specs leaks were probably close to the money but the always on stuff is not gonna happen even if at one point it might have been intended.

The other stuff isn't bad. But it shouldn't be the focus of a gaming console. You don't buy a phone to primarily surf the web if it sucks as a phone... unless you've been brainwashed by Apple. Then you'll buy old cat poop if they put "i" in front of it.

As long as the 720 excels as a gaming console, and as long as Microsoft doesn't go overboard with the fees and such, it should do alright.

SHOULD.

Edit: Also, just acknowledging the console is coming doesn't really impact much. It's not like Sony or Nintendo couldn't find out, from hints here and there within the industry, that Microsoft WAS making a new console. So if a dev says, "Yeah, our multiplat game will be on the next Xbox," that shouldn't be a problem at all.

I think the point that is missed here is that the console usually resides in the living room and MS wants moms, dads, kids and so on to be entertained by the device, not just the gamer.

My consoles are used mainly for gaming. PC, mainly for gaming and media storage. This is not the case in a lot of households. I know a few people that use consoles for nearly everything but gaming. It is more attractive to have a small console instead of a media PC, even though the media PC can and will do more.

I'm all for my console doing multiple things as long as it doesn't get in the way of gaming like the end of the 360 did. If they give us some new exclusive games and keep the always on for something other than games, MS will do just fine.

Either way, I am sure I will have a 720 and PS4 sitting next to each other by the end of the year. If Wii U gets some games I want, I will probably get that too. For now, my gaming PC is where it is at, as I am bored with the 360 and PS3.

Personally I'm not just a gamer, I love tech and how we can take what we have and combine it in awesome and interesting ways.

You say convoluted and unnecessary, I say robust and additional. Phones and TVs are a great example of taking old school and applying new ideas in a "smart" and useful way. I love being able to have apps on my phone, and watch netflix straight from my TV.

They are of course trying to make money, but I think its more from the perspective of "hey, buy my product because it has more/better stuff than the other guy". Which I dont think is a bad thing, just healthy competition. That is great for gamers.

To end my wall-o-text, I'll just say that these new features are what is going to make the decision on whether I go with Sony or Microsoft next gen. The games are so similar you cant go wrong.

I don't need the next xbox to change the way we play games to be honest...but I certainly do like the idea of one device that can do many things outside of gaming (related to my Television of course) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY Play games similar to what I play now...not iOS games like cut the rope but real full blown games.

This added functionality mind you needs to be super slick and super quick. While I love the added apps of the PS3 and 360 both systems are clunky to move between apps, games and Television. It needs to be a vast improvement over what we have now in order for me to be all on-board for the added features otherwise a new PC might be a better choice for me.

With a big 360 head start. That may be very significant in ww sales. I think this arguing makes gaming look a bit silly though. Both machines will be good, I'm sure. I will go ps4 for Sony games, others will go Xbox for MS games......and hardly anyone buys a Wii U ;-) ( joking....ish).

when they knew that there will be a ps3 and microsoft had only xbox 1, they couldnt call their next xbox XBOX-2 because in ppls mind 3 is better then 2 so they called it 3-60. because 3-60 sounds better then 3.

that same method is used for pricing stuff like for exemple the price of a ps3 is 300$ in my shop but in the other shops it only 299$. that way ppl buy the ps3 that is for 299$ because it sounds cheaper

Finally enough of this bullshit we cannot comment on that topic, the people even remotely considering the next box are either launch adopters or shortly after.

The people getting a ps4 or 720 already have had their systems for 4+ yr, ms or sony won't be losing ps3 or 360 sales to the ps4 or 720.

The people getting a ps3 or 360 cheaply atm, will laugh if you tried to sell them a $500 next gen system. Why should casuals get a $500 next gen for features or apps, they likely already have a ps3, 360, or a tablet which has plenty of both.

The first 2 yrs of both systems bulk of sales will be gamers, i don't see a subscription model being worth it for non gamers.

why are people hating on this feature? i already watch sky, youtube bbc iplayer love film and netflix on mine, so why would it matter if i could watch my actualy tv through it? it doesnt make me any less of a hardcore gamer to enjoy not having to swap between my digital and my xbox to watch a series or my pc and my tv to watch a film etc etc.

It CAN be a hardcore gaming machine and a media center (pc's have for years) Dont put your own limitations on it.

It really depends what MS does with the Xbox360. If they keep supporting it that will be fine. The millions of people who own and use it as a media hub will not need xbox720. Xbox360 does everything that it needs to do. If they decide to discontinue support for it (via XBL) like they did to Xbox. Shutting down the servers. Forcing them to upgrade. Why buy it. Their Xbox Live Gold model only worked because they tied the features with people who already had an gold account. And we went along with it. When these features shouldn't need a XBL subscription to really work. If you pay for Netflix why should you pay XBL to use it on their console (It should be for free, Like on PS3). The Xbox720 is going to be a very hard sell. Odds are people will be choosing a different media device because people don't like it when try you pull a fast one on them. MS may have gotten a great following with the 360. The 720 for hard core gamers. Not so much for the couch potato. Unless they come out with something amazing.